Printing apparatus



Dec. 22, 1931. F. w. LAENCHER 1,837,450 1 PRINTING APPARATUS Filed May 10, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet l II I N 6 s fi m Mn mm m E0 +0 m E a Dec. 22, F A PRINTING APHRATUS Filed Ma 10, 1950 5;Sheets'-Sheet --2 Dec. 22, 1931. F. w. LAENCHER PRINTING APPARATUS Filed May 10, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 22, 1 93.1. LAENHER 1,837,450

PRINTING APPARATUS Filed May 10, 1930 *5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jim LWL I 'W WJLJ I i i lNVENTOR I I a ATrog vs Dec. 22, F, w L E R 1,837,450

PRINTING APPARATUS Filed May 10, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 w lNV ENTOR Frederick 14/ Laenc/ver BY 6m my m m n \J a ATTEKIXJVEYS Patented Dec. 22, 1931 V l'S TA -Es FREDERICK w. LAENGHEB, or ELMI-IURS'L, NEW YORK, Assre'NoR To APKIMBALL con- 'I'ANKC'OF NEW YORK,

N. Y., a CORPORATION on NEW 'Yonx PRINTING Arranges Application med may '10,.1 9oi semi No. 451F222.

This invention relates to printing apparatus espeoially to apparatus for printing strips of tags and'has for anobject the pn vi ion of imp ovements in this art. V

More particularly theinvention has for its objects the provision of (fonv'enient and' efficlient apparatus for printing either thin adhesive tags or labels orielatively' thicktag's the'provision of improved means for driving I i usually provided withattaching'strings or.

staples; the provision of improved, feeding means including the tag engaging means and feed adjusting means to obtain very accurate registry of the tags with the printing means;

indfthe the printing heady provision of improved means for cutting the tags. Y a

Other objects and various features novelty will appear from the following description of [a preferred illustrative einbodiment of the invention. During thefdesorip} tion referencewill be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

embodying the invention Figure 2 is aright' side elevation s Figure 3 is a horizontalsection on the line 3- 3 of Figure 1;

y Figure 4 is a artial View corresponding to Figure 3 showmg the feed finger pos t oned for feeding a strip of tags;

Figure 5, a 'verticalsection on the line 5-5 of Figure 3; i V

Figure 6 1s a partial verti'cal section on the i line 66 of Figure 8;

Figure 7 is partial vertical section on theline 7 7 of Figure 3; I c.

Figure 8 is a partial vertical section on the line 88 of Figure 3;

Figure 9 i'sa verticalsection ontheline 9-9 of Figuren8; and 3 u a Figure. l0 is a vertical section on "the'line 1'O 1 0 ,of Figure8. i

Referring now part likeframeQOwhich may when desirable be secured to a table orother suitablesupport by bolts 21. i All of the inoving parts of' the lnachineare carried by the upper portion a platen table cooperating with an osoillat cularly to the draw ings of the illustrative embodimentl Figs. l and 2) the mechanism isibuil'tupon a box;

Upon the fraine 20 t'owa1'd the rear there is power means but since the; machine is light and designed for printing small lots of tags at any given time, it is drivenby'hand. For this'purpose the shaft 22 is equipped with a flywheel 23 and ahandle24, V i A Toward the front of the frame there isT a ing printing head '26. The printing headcar-I ries a removable typ'eehase 27-. It is mounted upon a'swinging arm 28 fast on a printing shaft29, s j

Cooperating with the printing. head 26 there isa swingable inking pad 30-remov-. ably held in an inking head 31 pivoted upon a stud shaft 32 fastin a fixed inking bracket 33. The inkingheaclB l is operatedto c oor dinate with the printing head by alink 34 pivoted at opposite ends to the inkinghead 1 and printing head respectively by-p ivot pins Figure 1 is a front'elevation of apparatus,

35 and 36 respectively, the latterbeing found in Fig. 5.

purposes of feeding, the tags are partially V severed fronieach other at one edge. A knife 38 completes the severance of the tags as they move away from printing positions The knife cooperates with 'a hardenedshear plate I 39 attached to the frame; The top edge of the shear plate coincides with the top edge of the table 25 r r The knife is pivoted upon a stud 40. is urged upward by a torsion spring enibracing. the studAOaand engaging the knife anda stop stud 42 at its free ends. The lat-*- ter stud also serves to limit the upward position of the knife. The knifeis operated by the printing head, the latter having a strike piece -engaging-the bank of the knife blade upon I each downward movement ofthe printing head. In case it is desired that the knife shall not operate 7 it may bejswu'ng downward by handuntil caught by a springlat'ch 44 where it is held below the plane of theltable. To

1 return the knife; to operating position the spring latch is pulled out to release the knife which is returned upward into operating position by the torsion spring.

The table consists of several plates mounted on a forwardly extending ledge 46 of the frame 20. The tags may be held by a guide f? engaging the front edge of the tag strip and biased rearwardly by a light torsion spring 48. The'guide has a mitered groove t8a on its inner and lower edge. The guide 47 is limited in its rearward movement (Fig. 5) by an adjustable screw 4:85 bearing against a lug 480 on the. guide.

The feed finger 37 is rigidly attached to a pivot block 49 mounted on a pivot pin 50 carried in a cross-head slide 51 The cross-head slide is reciprocably mounted in a slot 52 of a vertical plate 53 defining the rear edge of the table.

It is necessary for the successful operation of the feed finger that it be moved downward to engage the strip of tags on its forward reciprocatory movement and be raised from the tags so not to give them a retrograde movement on its rearward reciprocatory stroke. To effect this the pivot block4c9 is provided with a pin 55' operating in the slot 56 of a cam lever 57, The downward swing ing movement of the feed finger is limited by a lateral stud 58 carried by the pivot block 49 coming into engagement with a forwardly extending stud 62 secured to the slide. The

upward swinging movement of the feed finger is limited by the lateral stud 58 coming into engagement with another forwardly extending stud 59 secured to the slide and spaced from the stud 62.

.cam lever for supporting the same.

Referring now to Fig. 3 the cam lever 57 is seen to be mounted on an eccentric screw 60 secured (Fig. 5) to the top portion of the frame 20. The screw 60 hasa head below tjie T 1e screw is secured to the frame by a. lock nut 61 threaded on the upper portion of the screw. By loosening the lock nut and turning the screw 60 with ascrew-driver the pivotcenter of the cam lever 57 may be shifted and when the lock nut is again tightened on the screw 60 the lever is held in its adjusted position. The purpose of this adjustment is to secure ,1 accurate registry of the tag in printing and cutting position, 1t being realized thats ince the tags are partially slitted a very accurate positioning must'be secured if the knife is to cut them across 1n exact registry with the slits.

Still referring to Fig.5 the slide 5 1is resiliently held in the slot 52 by a coil spring 63 disposed onthe pivot pin 50 between washers 6d and 65,-the former frictionally engaging the rear surface of the vertical plate and the latter engagingthe outer end of the spring. The assembly may be mounted on the pin 50 by a cotter pin 66.v

Referring to Fig. 3 the main shaft 22 carries a double. faced cylindrical cam 68 actuating the cam follower roller 69 carried by the cam pin 70 affixed to the end of the cam lever 57. In case this cam becomes worn the utility of the pivot adjustment for the cam lever is particularly useful. The worn cam may be continued in service and the tags will be set as accurately in position as if the cam were new.

It has already been stated that the printing arm 28 is rigidly mounted on the printing shaft 29. In Figures 3 and 7 the drive for the printing shaft is found to consist in a rock arm 72 fast to the other end of the printing shaft actuated by a pivot pin 7 3 secured to a sleeve 74:. The sleeve 74 is slidable on a turnbuckle rot. 75. The rod is threaded into a crank pin sleeve 76 rotatable upon a crank pin 77 secured tdthe crankdisc 7 8 fast on the main shaft22. The outer end of the rod is provided with ahead 79 and between this head and the slidable sleeve 74 there is disthe table provides the platen portion 82a;

and this together with the auxiliary plates 83 and 84 forms the complete upper surface of the table. Then strips of tags of definite and relatively short lengths such as staple bearingtags are being printed they travel along this upper surface of the table and the spring-pressed guide 47 engaging the front edge of the strips keeps. them in alignment and prevents retrograde movement.

When sticker tags onlabels are feda somewhat different path is followed. These (Fig. 1) are preferably fed from a roll '85 of indefinite length mounted on theaxle 86 and held in position by a readily removable re taining plate'87. The strip from the roll 85 travels (Fig. 8) under the plate 83, which is removable and which applies tension. on the strip, thence through the guide channel 88 under the fixed plate 8 f, and emerges upon the top surface of-the table through the slot 89 behind the feed finger. In this casejthe tension-plate'83 prevents retrograde movement of the strip. i

' Asprev-iously mentioned and as appears from Fig. 4, the strips'of tags 90 whether of the-staple-bearing orgummedlabel type are slitted partly across from one edge-the rear edge according to their disposition in the present machine. The feed finger. acts upon the forwardedge of these slits to successively advance the tags in steps to printing position. In order that the finger end me -e slits it is necessary that therearward edge be pressed down.

To effect this (Fig. 8) the plate 82 is notched at 826' and 820 beneath the branched ends 37?) and 370 of the feed finger. The forward finger end 371) is spaced from the end 370 by the width of one tag. As a new strip of tags is pushed in toward printing position the trailing end 370 advances the tags into correct position to be printed upon. The leading end 37?) pushes oft the last tag of a strip. i 1

The finger ends operate by pressing down upon the front edges of one tag while the rear edge of a preceding tag is supported above the front edges of. notches 82?) or 820. Then as the finger end advances still pressing the edge of the trailing tag, it engages the slitted edge of the preceding tag and pushes it forward, the finger end riding uprthe inclinedsurface of the notch in its forward movement. On its return stroke the finger is held raised above the tags so as to produce no retrograde movement thereof. r

The finger has a longer stroke than the width of a tag. Referring to the finger position in Figs. i and 8 and the corresponding cam position in Fig. 3 it is evident that the finger ends in their rearward position are disposed an appreciable distance behind the notches 82b, 820 but not far enough to feed two tags at once. The excess length of movementof the finger is taken up in slippage over the tags. The cam 68 and eccentric pin 60 are so disposed as to cause the finger at the end of its forward movement to stop .accuratelyin the desired position so that the knife 38 will sever the tags in line with;

the slits previously made therein.

The operation of the machine will be ohvious from the above description. While one embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, it is to be understood that various modifications and changes are permissible within the scope of the invention as set forth in the sub joined claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for printing strips of tags comprising in combination, a printing table, a printing head actuated by a telescopic spring-pressed rod, a feed finger provided with tandem tag-engaging ends, means for loweringsa-id finger and moving it forward in tag feeding direction and lifting it when returning it, said table being provided with notches cooperating with said finger ends to cause them to engage the front edges of slits preformed in the strips of tags, a knife actuated in one direction by the printing head for severing tags, means to hold said knife when desired in inoperative position below the surface of the table and means included in said finger actuating means for adjusting the forengagement with; the strip. i i

accuratefpositionfor-saidknife.

2; Apparatus for printing strips of tags, comprising in combination, a table along ward stroke ofthe finger tjostop the stripin said finger to enable it to obtain a-pushing 3. Apparatus for printing strips of partially. severed tags, comprising in. combination, a table along which strips of tags travel, and a reciprocating presser finger for feeding tags along said table,.said table being shaped to cause said finger to press down theforward edge of a trailingtag below the rearedge of a leading tag; and to engage the trailing edge of' thevleadingitag to push the strip'forward. V 4;." Apparatus asset forth in claim 3 in whichsaidfinger is provided with two tandem operatingends and said tab-1e being provided with a corresponding {number of notches for the purposes described.- j

; 5.- Apparatus for printing -strips' of tags,

coinprisingin combination, a table,a printing head, means to feed a strip in tag-width increments I along sai'dftable, a yieldingly mounted knife 0 for severing tagsfrom the strip, and means for causing engagement of said knife bysaid printinghead during its printing stroke to thereby, sever a print-ed tag.- r :1 i I;

v 6. Apparatus for printing stripslof stags, compr sing in combination,a table, a printing head, means to feed a strip of'tags along said table, a knife for severing tags from said strip,said knife being raised by a spring and being moved downward to cut by saidqprinting head, and means to latchsaid knife down in inoperative position. a i i r 7; Apparatus for printi-iigstripsof partially severed tags, comprisingincombination,means to print said tagsy-aknifeto complete the severance of said tags, a reciproeating finger for feeding sa1d tags', :a lever operating said fingers and an 'ecfcentrioadjusted pivot for said lever to vary 'the'stroke of said feed finger to'stoptheltags accurately in position where the knife will sever them along the pre-formed lines of partial severance. I V

8. Apparatus for printing strips of tags, comprising in combination, a feed finger, a slidable' cross-head, a pivot on said crosshead supporting said finger, and means acting through said finger at one side of its pivot for reciprocating it and simultaneously biasing it about its pivot.

9. Apparatus for printing strips of tags, comprising in combination, a feed finger, a slidable cross-head having friction in its guides, a pivot on said cross-head supporting said finger, a member acting upon said finger above its pivot to reciprocate it and its cross-head and simultaneously bias the finger about its pivot, the finger bein biased downward when moved forward to eed the strip and being biased upwardto clear the strip when moved rearward.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 in which cooperating elements are provided on said cross-head and finger to limit the biasing movement of said finger.

11. Apparatus for printing strips of tags 16 either stiff 0r fleXible,co1n1:)rising in combination, a printing head, a platen cooperating therewith and a table providing separate means for guiding either flexible or stiff strips of tags to said platen along the same plane 15 and in the same direction.

12; Apparatus for printing strips of tags of either the staple or gummed type, comprisingin combination, a printing head, a platen cooperating therewith, and means for starting said tags along different levels according to type and presenting them at the same level to said platen.

13. Apparatus for printing strips of tags of either the stiff and staple-bearing or fleX- 25 ible and gummed type, comprising in combination, a printing head, a platen cooperating therewith. a table surface in the plane of said platen for staple-bearing tags to travel over and a channel below said table and E emerging thereupon for directing flexible tags'to said platen.

14. Apparatus as set forth in claim 13 in which said table surface is formed in part by a movable plate which exerts a friction on the flexible tags travelling below the table surface.

15. Apparatus for printing flexible strips of tags, comprising in combination, a table along which said strip travels to printing etposition, a fixed journal below said table for supporting a roll of said strip, and aremovable plate having a hole and slot connection with a groove in said journal for retaining the roll.

as i In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 9th day of May, 1930. I

FREDERICK W. LAEN 

